Search form

You are here

Putting names to a sea of faces - standardising the flora and fauna classification of Australian marine images (CATAMI)

Abstract:

This poster explains the system of standardising the flora and fauna classification of Australian marine images using Collaborative and Automated Tools for the Analysis of Marine Imagery and video (CATAMI)

CATAMI, a collaborative national project, has devised a common language for identifying and naming marine life pictured in underwater photographs and video. The system employs a standardised combination of high-level taxonomy (phylum, order, class) and morphological (shape, growth-form) characteristics that can be determined from a picture. This provides greater consistency than traditional classification approaches that rely on the handling of specimens.

Put more simply, photographs and video provide a safe, non-destructive and efficient way to examine and monitor marine habitats. To be useful on a national scale, however, all the life forms they reveal must be named in a consistent way. A new classification system devised by Australia’s CATAMI project provides that common language.

This poster is based on the original pictorial guide produced by CATAMI project partners and contributors: